She Sings As She Flies – Revisiting The Helen Creighton Song Collection

September 29th, 2017 – She Sings as She Flies • Revisiting the Helen Creighton Song Collection was conceived by Mary Jane Lamond and Laurel MacDonald as a special production of their voice+electronics+visual performance project Patchwork.

First cousins and longtime professional performers and creative collaborators, Mary Jane Lamond and Laurel MacDonald recently launched a performance duo under the moniker Patchwork: a project dedicated to the presentation of traditional song in a contemporary context.

She Sings as She Flies will feature Mary Jane and Laurel as Patchwork performing songs from the Gaelic and English language traditions. Joining Mary Jane and Laurel will be Nicole LeBlanc, Kirsten Olivia and Naomi Dawn Poulette, singing selections from the Acadian, African Nova Scotian, and Mi’kmaq communities respectively.

Together they will present the songs in a theatrical environment, integrating the music with archival recordings and images, live vocal looping, sound design and video stage projections.
The production will look not only at the rich legacy of the music itself, but will also pose questions regarding the circumstances of Helen Creighton’s work, and the social and cultural environment then, and now.

She Sings as She Flies will be a groundbreaking presentation by five uniquely talented Nova Scotian singers, illustrating the richness, diversity and complex history behind this unique folksong collection.